Wilfork’s loss will be felt on the field and off

FOXBORO — As with anyone who has spent a good part of his life following and enjoying New England sports teams, this writer has developed plenty of favorites.The list here, though, is different than most....

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By
PAUL KENYON
Posted Oct. 1, 2013 @ 12:37 pm

FOXBORO — As with anyone who has spent a good part of his life following and enjoying New England sports teams, this writer has developed plenty of favorites.

The list here, though, is different than most. In this corner, it is not simply a matter of which athletes are the most successful and most enjoyable to watch. Because it is work, because there are personal dealings, the prejudices revolve more around the athlete him or herself than what happens on the field, on the court or on the course.

That’s why it was an especially bad night Sunday in Atlanta. One of the truly great athletes New England has seen in recent years was lost, at least for this season and perhaps more.

Vince Wilfork is that special. His contributions go far beyond being a regular on the all-pro teams for the last half-dozen years. For those of us who work around the team, there has been no one, absolutely no one, who has been a bigger help, who has been as pleasant to work with, as Wilfork.

He is pure class. The Patriots have taken more than their share of public-relations hits in recent years. As many have written and said, the team has a different way of putting on its public face and allowing its athletes to present themselves than most organizations, not just in the NFL but in any sport. It can make the job for those of us who work with the team tougher than it needs to be.

The Pats heavily control access to their players. They demand that the team message is presented the way they want it to be. For some time now, Wilfork has been asked to be one of the public faces. The co-captain has handled it beautifully.

He has balanced the restrictions the team places on the one hand, with the public’s desire to want to know as much as possible on the other hand, beautifully. In the locker room, he is a down-to-earth, pleasant teddy bear in a grizzly bear’s body. He is straightforward in answering questions, providing detail few Patriots go into.

Those who have followed the Pats in these pages over the past decade have read many quotes from Wilfork, perhaps behind only Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. It is because Wilfork handles matters the right way and says the right things.

Wilfork is that way with more than football. The University of Miami grad has become part of the community, often with his wife, Bianca, at his side. The two have become leading proponents of the Patriots Charitable Foundation’s program to celebrate volunterism and help those who need help.

Wilfork was one of the first winners of the team’s Ron Burton Award for service to the community. He has become very active in particular with the program he and his wife have organized to raise money for the Diabetes Foundation, a program near and dear for many of us.

He spoke at a public session a couple years about why he works with the famed Joslin Diabetes Center to raise money for research.

“My relationship with diabetes comes from growing up in my household with my father being ill for 13, 14, 15 years,” he said. “As a kid — I’m 9, 10 years old at the time, seeing my father go through what he had to go through. We had to give him shots at times, he was so weak.

“We had to bathe him, had to take him to restroom. There was a lot going on that my brother and I had to deal with. So, that’s why this is real close and dear to my heart,” he said. “I know how this can affect a household because I was one of those people who had to deal with it.”

Wilfork’s big fundraising event is a draft day party.

“One thing that kills me the most is when I see a 4-year-old with juvenile diabetes,” he related. “I know a lot of people probably have friends and family members that are cancer patients. ... I put it right up there with cancer. Every year I throw my draft day fundraiser to raise money for diabetes. There’s not one year that comes and goes that I don’t get new people either showing up to my doorstep or showing up to the fundraiser just telling me stories about how they are affected by this disease.”

He preaches about the need to be tested for diabetes.

“It’s very important, especially as an African-American,” he said. “But you know what, it’s not just African-Americans. I tell my teammates the same thing. Just letting them know what it can do to a household. You can go all your life without knowing. It’s an unknown. You get a little finger cut and you have to get stitched up, and they run bloodwork and all the sudden they find out you’re diabetic.

“That’s not easy,” he said. “We try to push people to go when they’re actually feeling good, before it’s too late. That’s one thing I’ll continue to push. I tell guys every time I see them, ‘Hey, go get tested.’ Even if you think you’re OK, still just go get tested to make sure you’re healthy.”

Wilfork is not the only athlete who has made the community better. In Rhode Island, we have been blessed with the incredibly generous work of golfers Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade, who have raised and donated more than $20 million for children’s charities both with their own programs and through the CVS Charity Classic.

The late Dave Gavitt not only built Providence College into a basketball power, he became a community leader is so many different ways. The Patriots have been excellent in encouraging their players to become active. Joe Andruzzi, Matt Light and Kevin Faulk, among others, have gone out of their way to help.

It makes it that much more difficult when a player like that goes down with a career-threatening injury. Sunday night, Belichick held his usual postgame press conference after the victory over the Falcons. When he finished, he did not head straight back to the locker room, but instead made a detour to meet with Bianca Wilfork, who was standing nearby.

The two spoke quietly for several minutes. It was clear the situation was serious. The pictures from that night, with Wilfork being taken off in a cart, in obvious pain, were moving.

The Patriots will adjust. Tom Brady spoke about it in a national radio interview on NBC Monday night.

“Well, to say we’ll miss him is an understatement. His presence in the locker room and on the field is really unmatched, so it will be a team effort,” he said. “He’ll be around, his spirit, his leadership. He’ll still have a big impact on our team. But he’s been a great player for a long time and everyone’s disappointed about his injury.”

The Patriots will remain one of the best teams in the NFL, but they have suffered a serious loss on the field. The loss is every bit as big off the field.